Ever since the shocking news of the gruesome murder of two Hindu children in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district came to the fore, OpIndia has been in relentless pursuit to uncover the truth of the horrific crime. In its endeavour to unveil the facts, OpIndia arrived in the village of Sajid, who brutally slaughtered the two children Aayush and Ayaan in Badaun. Sajid was a native of Sakhanu village, located approximately 13 kilometres from Badaun.
Sajid and Javed had stabbed the two Hindu kids Ayush and Ahaan 23 times after slitting their throats on the evening of March 19. Sajid was killed by the police in an encounter the next day. Sajid’s brother Javed, the second accused in the case, was arrested and sent to jail.
When the OpIndia team visited the accused’s village and spoke with their family members and relatives, we realised that the statements they were making were blatantly inconsistent and brimming with contradictions. Be it the details they disclosed regarding Sajid’s wife or Javed’s whereabouts, various inferences could be drawn if an inquiry is conducted based solely on their claims.
Various claims Sajid’s family made about Javed’s whereabouts
Apart from what the FIR mentioned, some of Sajid’s neighbours had also confirmed that Javed was present at the house where the two innocent Hindu children were killed. In his statement, Inspector General Rakesh Kumar Singh also mentioned that Javed was at the scene and only left after the crime was executed. However, some Sakhanu village neighbours and Javed’s family members contradicted the police’s and the FIR copy’s assertions about his whereabouts.
Speaking to OpIndia, Javed’s grandmother said that her grandson was in their village when the incident occurred. Javed’s grandmother showed us the pit he was allegedly digging when the incident occurred and claimed, “Javed was tilling the soil at home when he got a call from someone telling him that his brother Sajid had gotten into a fight. He left the task at hand and rushed to Badaun, where he was caught by the police.”
Javed’s neighbour Muzaffar and his relative Rukhsana both corroborated his grandmother’s claim. However, a closer look at the pit made it obvious that the earth was excavated a little more than an hour ago. Now, the question is: Would Javed have dug the earth for just one hour? Why would someone perceive one hour’s work equivalent to a full day’s effort? Maybe there should be additional investigation done on this in the future.
Prior to his arrest in Bareilly, a video of Javed became viral. He said in this video that he fled the scene because he was afraid of the crowd that started to gather. Sakhanu, Javed’s village, is roughly fifteen kilometres away from Badaun city. Between the two places is a bustling single road that goes through the market.
Javed would have needed at least forty minutes to travel to the location even if he had chosen to ride his bike to meet his brother. The irate mob had arrived at the police post rather than the scene of the event by this point. Many questions come up in this kind of situation, such as where Javed was when the murder happened.
Is Sajid’s wife in her parents’ home or in-laws’ house?
From day one, the slain accused Sajid’s wife Sana has been talked about in the media and on social media. The FIR filed against Sajid mentioned how he had faked his wife’s pregnancy to extort money from Sangeeta, the mother of the deceased victims. On January 21, Aaj Tak went to Sajid’s in-laws’ house in Dadmai and talked to Sana and Sajid’s mother-in-law Miskin. During the course of conversation, it had come to the fore that the slain accused Sajid’s wife is not pregnant.
Sana had said that Sajid used to drop her off at her maternal home from time to time and take her back after 15-20 days. She said that she did not know about this murder, she came to know in the morning that Sajid had killed two children and he too had been killed in a police encounter.
Sana’s parents also made similar assertions.
बदायूं – बदायूं में 2 बच्चों की बर्बरता से हत्या मामला
— भारत समाचार | Bharat Samachar (@bstvlive) March 20, 2024
➡आरोपी साजिद की पत्नी का बयान आया सामने
➡गर्भवती होने की बात से साजिद की पत्नी का इंकार
➡हमें नहीं पता साजिद ने ऐसा क्यों किया-पत्नी
➡बिनावर थाने के ददमई में है साजिद का ससुराल.#Budaun | Crime | pic.twitter.com/qKm349euau
However, the OpIndia team found the exact contrary of these claims when they arrived at Sajid’s hamlet, Sakhanu. Sajid’s grandmother claimed that Sajid was at home a few hours before the incident and had, in fact, requested his wife to prepare food for him. Their relatives Rukhsana and Shanwaz, who were also sitting next to Sajid’s grandmother nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, information on Sajid’s wife’s whereabouts has not yet been made public by the authorities. Officials have said that all aspects of the issue are being investigated.
Who is to be believed? Sajid’s wife or grandmother
On March 20, Sajid’s wife stated on different TV channels that she did not know about this murder. However, if Sajid’s grandmother’s assertions are to be believed, she said that Sana was at home and a few hours before the incident took place even Sajid was at home and he had asked Sana to cook for him before he left for Badaun.
Moreover, she also claimed that Javed had received a call informing him about some dispute Sajid had got into. The timing of the call received coincided with the time of the murder of the two children in Badaun. Javed rushed for Badaun following this call. However, before leaving, he must have obviously informed his family members about this alleged call, otherwise, how would the grandmother know?
Thus, on the one hand, we have Sana, Sajid’s wife, who told the media that she was at her parents’ house and was unaware of the murder; on the other hand, the accused’s grandmother told us that Sana was at her in-law’s house and was aware that Sajid was in trouble.
In such a situation, it’s unclear who is telling the truth—Sajid’s grandmother or his wife.
Why did Sajid ask for food from his wife if he was fasting for Ramzan?
Most of the arguments provided by the accused grandmother and other relatives don’t seem to add up to the information that is already available in the public domain. During police interrogation, Javed confessed that Sajid had purchased the murder weapon during the month of Ramadan. He claimed that Sajid had told him that they would use the knife to cut meat and other items for Iftar during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Sajid's family used to take him to a dargah in Badaun… His dadi calls this dargah by the name 'Sarkar'.
— OpIndia.com (@OpIndia_com) March 22, 2024
Since Sajid's childhood, this family has deeply believed in the Dargah of Badaun.#Badaun #BadaunHorror #OpIndiaGroundReport pic.twitter.com/rTAiRkELFe
Now, Sajid’s grandmother, while speaking to our team, mentioned that Sajid had, before leaving for Badaun at around 5 pm on March 19, asked his wife to cook food for him.
Notably, Iftar is the meal that Muslims eat at sunset to break their fast during Ramadan. As per Islamic beliefs, individuals do not eat or drink anything throughout the day if they are observing Roza during Ramzan. Iftar is the second meal of the day, which Muslims eat after sunset. Interestingly, the sun had not set at 5 pm on March 19. Generally in Delhi and its neighbouring places, the Iftar time is 6:35 pm, according to the 12 Ramadan 1445 in the Islamic calendar. Here is the question one may ask then: Why would Sajid ask his wife for food at 5 pm if he was observing Roza? Furthermore, why did Javed lie if Sajid had kept the fast?
Another question at hand is whether Sajid’s grandmother is stating the truth or she is lying. It may currently be inferred that Sajid’s family member’s claims are inconsistent with one another in addition to being at odds with the police and the FIR.
Earlier, OpIndia reported how the accused’s grandmother had tried to defend the accused, who mercilessly slaughter two young children, by claiming that Sajid was under the influence of “upari hawa” (seemingly referring to black magic). Claiming that the remaining accused Javed is innocent, their grandmother said, “jo kia hoga wo Sajid ne kia hoga.” (Translation – Whatever happened Sajid must have done it.)
